


Cover Me Up

by whowhatsitwhich



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Just a Thing, Short One Shot, Stuff I write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26826214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whowhatsitwhich/pseuds/whowhatsitwhich
Summary: They still had things to do here but someday, one day...the bike and the wide open road. Maybe New Mexico. Surely together. That’s all that mattered.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Cover Me Up

**Author's Note:**

> Just a thing. Haven't written anything in ages so any words are good words, I guess.

_Days when we raged, we flew off the page Such damage was done But I made it through, 'cause somebody knew I was meant for someone ~ Jason Isbell, Cover Me Up_

Those eyes caught and held and Carol felt her breath hitch. When had their roles changed? Once upon a time, it was her pulling him back from the edge with a touch and a whispered word. _I know you. You have to let yourself feel it._ Now it was him pinning her like a moth to a board with unwavering blue eyes and a gentle hand. _I'm the one you tell. Me._

_"New Mexico's still out there."_

She wouldn't let herself dwell on how often that declaration ran through her mind. _I'm still here. You've still got me._ Dammit all to hell and back, why did they keep dancing around it? You, me, we, us. A future. They'd said it every way without saying it outright and she cringed at the thought that the blame for that fell mostly at her feet.

It was him that reached for her. Him that pulled her close and offered sanctuary when the world fell in around her. _Follow my light._ Maybe this time she could. Lay it all down. Put it out of her head and her heart. Let him carry her water. Stand shoulder to shoulder. Meet his eyes without tears or pain or memories clouding her gaze.

"Hey."

She ran right into that searching, questioning look and this time, she met it head on. " Hey."

"We're heading back," Daryl gestured vaguely to the others. "Gonna try to make it to Alexandria before dark. You alright?"

Was she? No. Not for a while. Not when she stood on the edge of that cliff and felt infinity beneath her soles. Not when she put that bitch’s head up on her boy’s funeral pike and then walked away with Alpha’s voice in her head. Not when every bad thought she’d ever had about who she’d become and what she’d done bubbled up like venom in her veins and swallowed her whole. Not when she couldn’t bear what was in her dreams. 

A home. Family. Love. Belonging. Right there in the palm of her hand. Hers for the asking. Drowned in a sea of blue. In those eyes, his eyes. Eyes that met hers and turned her inside out. 

Instead of their usual reply...gotta be....she quipped, “Gonna be.” 

Daryl’s eyes narrowed, looking deep into her and through her. Taking it all in. She didn’t know what he read on her face but that one sided smile tugged his lips upward. “Well then that’s alright, isn’t it?” 

Carol shrugged and then took his hand, twining their fingers together. They still had things to do here but someday, one day...the bike and the wide open road. Maybe New Mexico. Surely together. That’s all that mattered. “Let’s go home.” 


End file.
